AUBURN HILLS, Mich.- The Detroit Pistons have chosen
Kentucky guard Brandon Knight with the eighth pick in the NBA
draft.
Knight averaged 17.3 points per game as a freshman last season
for the Wildcats. He joins a Detroit team trying to rebuild after
missing the playoffs two straight seasons. The Pistons went 30-52
in 2010-11, and coach John Kuester was fired. The team hasn't hired
a replacement.
Detroit does have a new owner. Tom Gores completed a deal to
purchase the team from Karen Davidson less than a month ago.
With frontcourt prospects Tristan Thompson, Jonas Valanciunas
and Bismack Biyombo all taken, the Pistons went with Knight, who
helped the Wildcats reach the Final Four.
Detroit took Kyle Singler with the 33rd pick overalll. Singler averaged 16.2 points per game over four seasons at Duke
and was named the Final Four's most outstanding player in 2010,
when the Blue Devils won the national title.
The 6-foot-8 Singler set school records with 147 career starts
and 4,887 minutes.
Singler joins a Detroit team that might have to replace free
agent Tayshaun Prince.
The Pistons selected Florida's Vernon Macklin in the second round of the NBA draft with the 52nd pick overall.
The 6-foot-10 Macklin averaged 11.6 points per game last season
for the Gators. He began his college career at Georgetown, where he
played two seasons before transferring to Florida to play two more.
The Pistons drafted point guard Brandon Knight of Kentucky in
the first round and 6-foot-8 Kyle Singler of Duke earlier in the
second. The addition of Macklin gives them another big body inside
along with Greg Monroe, the team's first-round pick last year.
